Manchester City star Leroy Sane has been cut from Germany's final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup.
Joachim Low has chosen to omit the 22 year-old winger, who scored 10 goals in the Premier League last season for the runaway champions and contributed a further 15 assists, collecting the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
The adventure starts 🇩🇪✈🏆 #inSané #LS19 #RoadToWorldCup #DieMannschaft @DFB_Team pic.twitter.com/IFZh80pOnY
— Leroy Sané (@LeroySane19) May 23, 2018
Sane's adventure has been cut far shorter than he would likely have imagined when he joined up with the preliminary squad on 23 May.
Low has instead opted to include Bayer Leverkusen winger Julian Brandt, also 22, in his attacking ranks, as well as the Bayern Munich-bound Schalke playmaker Leon Goretzka.
"It was a very close decision. If it was a 100 meter race, it would have been a photo finish," said Low. "Leroy is a huge talent. He will be back again in September. He has not arrived in international matches yet."
German champions Bayern Munich have seven players representing Die Mannschaft.
Also travelling is Dortmund's Marco Reus, who cruelly missed Germany's victorious 2014 campaign with an injury sustained shortly before the tournament began.
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno, defender Jonathan Tah and forward Nils Petersen were the other players trimmed from the squad, below.
The final 23-man squad for the #WorldCup 🇩🇪#DieMannschaft #ZSMMN pic.twitter.com/SOJa14wIOD
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) June 4, 2018
Germany begin the defence of their title against Mexico in Group F's opening match on 18 June at 01:00am AEST, followed by games against Sweden and South Korea.
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